At one point, choosing a POD company to print my book was a source of much concern, research, and confusion for me. It was difficult to compare and contrast different POD companies because their websites don’t give the same information. Most (if not all) POD Companies utilize Digital Printing technology (not Offset Printing). It is because of this technology, they are able to offer cost-effective services to us as niche-market book authors. For a long time, I wasn’t sure that I could ‘afford’ to have my book printed in a cost-effective way. Somehow I stumbled upon CreateSpace (that now is called Kindle Direct Publishing–KDP) and realized that all the independent work I had done in creating/laying out my book interior was appropriate for using CreateSpace/KDP services to have my book/cover ‘printed’ and completed into a physical book.
POD companies are divided into two types based upon the style of services they offer:
· Fee-Based/Author Services-Based
· Independant-Based/True Self-Publishing
Fee-Based/Author Services-Based POD Companies
These companies require you to buy certain services—usually in the form of a minimum package. This package includes services in which you submit to them a word-processing file of your text via a physical storage unit (eg. CD, DVD, flash drive, etc.), individual photos and illustrations. They then work to layout your book for you. You are charged per picture/illustration that you submit. I will say again—They layout your book for you. You have little control over what it looks like. If you do input preferences, it may cost you. I personally believe this may be viable for a word-only book such a novel, or maybe even a children’s book where every page has one picture along with text….but it would be difficult to get a technical book such as a lacemaking book just the way you want it/it needs to be with this approach. A technical/lacemaking book requires the right photo or illustration to be in proximity to the appropriate text and it needs to be the right size to convey the point intended. I can’t imagine communicating this type of information to a POD company representative via internet, mail, or phone! The package price also usually includes a custom cover for your book. If you have any preferences of style, it costs you more. These POD companies set the retail/list price of your book for you based on the number of pages—which is quite high. They do offer the author the ability/right to buy their own books at an author-discount price–usually 30% off retail. Thus there is not much margin for profit for you to buy you own books and market them yourself. They do have distribution channels for selling your book, but traditionally self-published books published through POD companies are not popular with bookstores and distributors so don’t expect many sales this way. POD companies will sell your book and give you royalties (10-20% of the retail cost), but they are unwilling to market it for you.
For more information see chapter 10B: More Info on ‘Fee-Based’ POD Companies that I Recommend you Avoid
Independant-Based POD Companies
This is the category that fits my needs for “Cost-effective” printing options that Cost-Effective Desk-Top (Self) Publishing for a Niche-Market Book is based upon.
Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP)--an affiliate company of Amazon.This company used to be known as CreateSpace (CS) and was Amazon’s physical-book printing company, acquired in 2005. Kindle was Amazon’s e-book (electronic/digital) book company. In late 2018, Amazon merged CS completely with KDP. –For me (The ShuttleSmith Publishing Company) the move was seamless and of no consequence.
For more information see chapter see: 10D. 2021 List of Other Recommended POD Companies